Zoë Kravitz Was Denied an Audition on 'The Dark Knight Rises' Due to Her Skin Color

Hollywood is trying to put on its best face when it comes to diversity and inclusion. But behind closed doors, racism, homophobia, and classism still rear their ugly heads.

This weekend, The Batman dominated the box office, smashing records and making people forget the last two dismal years. We were treated to a good film and a great performance by Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman.

But it turns out, we could have seen her in the franchise years prior, if not for some bigotry. Kravitz told The Guardian in a recent interview that she wanted to audition for Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. But she says she was rejected and told she was too “urban” for the part. 

Kravitz expanded on the situation, telling The Guardian, “I don’t know if it came directly from Chris Nolan. I think it was probably a casting director of some kind, or a casting director’s assistant… Being a woman of color and being an actor and being told at that time that I wasn’t able to read because of the color of my skin, and the word 'urban' being thrown around like that, that was what was really hard about that moment.”

The part of Catwoman in that film eventually went to Anne Hathaway, who did a great job as well. But in a world where getting a shot at a big movie can make or break your career, this is a lost opportunity for an actress disqualified for a superficial reason.

This is also not the first time Krazvitz has told this story. 

In a 2015 interview with Nylon, Kravitz talked about auditioning for The Dark Knight Rises and said she couldn’t get in the room because they told her they were not "going urban" for the role. She also stated, “It was like, ‘What does that have to do with anything?’ I have to play the role like, ‘Yo, what’s up, Batman? What’s going on with you?’”

It's nice to see the current Batman movie a little more open to a diverse cast. 2015 was not that long ago, and behind closed doors, people can say and do what they want without much retribution. If you ever find yourself in a position of power, think about how it can be used to lift voices and change the culture.

And if you hear behavior like this going on, call it out. 

Correction, March 8: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Kravitz wanted to audition for Catwoman.